The invention is principally concerned with a process for direct preparation of enantiomers of a substituted fluorenyloxyacetic acid.
Certain fluorenyloxyacetic acids useful for treating brain edema are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,316,043. These acetic acids have a chiral center and exist as racemates and individual isomers. A chiral catalytic process for producing such compounds is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,587,357 of Bhattacharya filed Oct. 1, 1984.
A process has been discovered for directly preparing individual isomers of a fluorenyloxyacetic acid which is simpler and requires less catalyst than the Bhattacharya application hereinabove.